RICHLAND – A third-grade research project on the American flag inspired photographer Rajah Bose to capture “The New Patriots,” a collection of photos that show how patriotic symbols are portrayed in everyday life throughout the Northwest.
The photo exhibit is open through Dec. 3 at WSUTri-Cities. The WSU Tri-Cities Exhibition Center is in the Consolidated Information Center, room 120, at 2770 University Drive, Richland.
Bose said that grade school assignment resulted in an essay on the Flag Code, which explains how the stars and stripes are to be displayed and treated. “These rules, which are rarely used for enforcement, are usually only referenced to understand and teach others how to pay respect to the nation’s most widely used symbol,” he said.
“I have always taken special note of the symbols we choose to champion, and in turn, how we treat them,” Bose said. “These photos are a study of the cultural and commercial appropriations of those symbols and those who wave them.”
Bose, a WSU Pullman graduate, works at the Tri-City Herald in Kennewick, Wash., as a photojournalist.
Admission to the artist’s reception and the photo exhibit is free and open to the public. “The New Patriots” is part of the WSU Tri-Cities Fall 2007 Liberal Arts Season.
The WSU Tri-Cities art gallery is open Monday through Thursday from noon to 6 p.m. For more information on art exhibits at WSU Tri-Cities, go to www.tricity.wsu.edu/artgallery.
